The Alley Chicago: Bringing the Madness Online

📌 Brief

Design a landing page for the Alley Chicago while also producing facebook ad roll designs and printed ads to support their transition to an online store & promote the brick and mortar store before it closed.

👨🏽‍🎤 Creative Process

The Alley Chicago has always challenged the status quo, so that’s how I approached the attitude of the print and digital marketing. I created more balance and intentional design for The Alley’s landing page that showcased what the store had to offer. I also set up a simple checkout flow for the shopify templates which the webmaster was putting together. Together we developed a dynamic landing page, reinforced by strategically targeted Facebook ads, to aid their transition online while concurrently promoting the physical store before its closure. I generated three wireframe drafts and collaborated with the owner and webmaster to devise a layout that emphasized popular categories, highlighted sales, and featured the physical store without overwhelming the user, all while promoting their top-selling in-store items – shoes, and most-purchased online products – t-shirts. The initial wireframe sketch proved most effective, while still offering the adaptability required for subsequent updates.

🤌🏽 User Personas

The Alley in Chicago was a special place to me. I was born and raised in Chicago and at the ripe age of 14 became exposed to incredible subcultures. I found myself in The Alley many times as a young adult and met some of the best and most interesting people. It truly was an experience. I was very sad to find out they were transitioning to an online store. I knew who we were targeting so it made putting together a persona pretty painless.

⚡️ Visual Design

📸 Photography Shoot

Product photography is pivotal in conveying both the quality of the product and the essence of a brand. For The Alley, an alternative rock store, we embarked on a photo session with one of their most seasoned employees, who also happens to be a professional burlesque performer. Collaboratively, we captured a series of vibrant and compelling images that not only showcased the leather jackets and lace lingerie but also embodied the rebellious and spirited ethos of The Alley.

2023 UPDATE:

I was recently delighted to take on the challenge of optimizing their landing page. I recommended featuring professionally photographed models in the header, adorned in The Alley’s leather jackets with their t-shirts underneath. Additionally, I provided creative direction on the visual styling of the categories.